Heart in the Cards
by Homura Bakura
Summary: A series of oneshots involving my favorite pairings from Yu-Gi-Oh (all series. literally all of them). Prompts from otpprompts on Tumblr, most pairings listed inside on the first chapter. T just be safe, mostly for language.
1. Introduction

Hello, and welcome to this super amazing series of random Yu-Gi-Oh shipping oneshots! Basically, what happens here is I post oneshots about my favorite YGO shippings. I don't take requests for this, sorry.

Most of the prompts I use for these oneshots comes from .com unless otherwise noted, so please go have a look at that amazing source of OTP prompts!

Before we begin, let me make a brief (haha) list of the pairings that will probably show up here, just so you can avoid pairings you dislike or look for ones you like. *clears throat*

Peachshipping

Trustshipping

Polarshipping

Nellshipping

Vaseshipping

Softshipping

Mizushipping

Kiddyshipping

Midriffshipping

Roseshipping

Pleashipping

Logicshipping

Destinyshipping

Possessshipping/Eternityshipping (I like to call it Eternityshipping, but that's not official so...)

Tomorrowshipping

Pineshipping

Pairshipping

Angelshipping

Courageshipping (made this one up, it's O'Brien x Maiden of the Aqua)

Faithshipping

Scoopshipping

Distantshipping

And there may (cough will cough) be others as I go along and find new ships and pairings and bromances and whatevers that I like and feel like writing about. Oh, yeah, and there won't be any sex depicted here (it may be hinted that they had it, but I won't write about the act) because I am incredibly grossed out by sex and wouldn't be able to treat such a scene with any decency.

Since this series doesn't have an actual end point in mind (it just updates whenever I feel like it) I'm going to mark it as completed, however, I'll still be posting sporadically to this.

Without further ado, let's get this shipping on the road. :3


	2. Apricot-chan

_(Prompt: __Imagine that Person A of your OTP has a special nickname or term of endearment for Person B. They have never called Person B this name in front of people, as they haven't gone public with their relationship yet, but one night, at a party or event where lots of their friends and peers are present, Person A slips, and calls Person B the special name by accident. Person B blushes and hides their face when they realize that everybody has heard, but Person A grabs Person B by the hand and boldly announces to everybody present that the two of them are together. Everybody present applauds and hollers their congratulation as Person A pulls Person B into a passionate kiss.)_

_(Ship: Peachshipping)_

****. . .****

"You did _not_, Jonouchi."

"I did! I did! I wouldn't lie to ya!"

"Oh come off it, you lunkhead! There's no way!"

"Geez, leggo of me, Mai!"

Yugi hid his laugh behind his hand as the tall blonde woman snagged Jonouchi into a good-natured headlock and proceeded to noogie him.

"Gaaah," Jonouchi said. "Yugi, help!"

Yugi just grinned, sticking his tongue out playfully.

"Payback, Jou-kun, you did that to me plenty back in high school," he said.

"Agh, no, karma's come back to bite me!" Jonouchi said, finally wriggling out of Mai's grasp. "Darn it, Yug, I'd get you back, too, but you're too tall for me to snag ya easily!"

"You've caught on to my plan, have you?"

He paused to reach back towards the table behind him to grab another dinner roll. He was going to fill himself up before dinner, but he didn't really care. He'd probably be too busy talking to people to actually eat much anyway – there were so many people in the room that he hadn't even talked to yet!

They had gotten lucky – Seto had actually agreed to let them use his mansion for the big old reunion after they had gotten rained out at the ark. He claimed that it was just because Mokuba wanted to do it, but the CEO wasn't really fooling anyone. He was certainly not going to be anyone's cuddly teddy bear anytime soon, but he was at least grudgingly admitting that he didn't really mean it when he complained about not really being everyone's friend.

Jonouchi started telling another wild story, this one about wrestling a bear in Canada, at which point Honda called bullshit because Jonouchi hadn't been to Canada, he had only stopped by in America to meet up with Valon before going to Europe for a few weeks. Jonouchi told him to hush and let him finish his story.

"I can't tell, has Jonouchi been drinking some of this stuff, or is he just drunk on the fact that Mai is standing next to him?" Anzu whispered beside Yugi, shaking her wine glass lightly.

Yugi chuckled.

"Definitely Mai. Jonouchi hasn't touched the wine."

Anzu's laugh was soft and musical. He sighed softly as she leaned a bit closer to him, her shoulder brushing against his. He wanted to lean right into her and feel her warmth against him, to put his arm across her shoulders and pulled her close, catch the scent of that fruity kid shampoo she liked to use because it was cheap. But...well...

He grinned as Mai shoved Jonouchi with her elbow. Ishizu wandered over as Honda started talking about the work at the construction company, the new buildings they were putting in and the bets they were taking on what companies would grab the new ones first.

"So, Anzu, hun, what have you been up to?" Mai asked, leaning a bit away from the other conversation. She obviously did not find buildings very interesting.

"Oh! Well I just rented a small place down on Plum Street...yeah, not far from Yugi's game shop – oh, you haven't been there yet? You really have to stop by sometime, it's a great place! Anyway, yeah, I rented a small studio and I'm trying to get a dance class started...no, for now I'm working at Burger World again; not glamorous, but it gets the bills paid, right?"

"Apricot-chan, careful there," Yugi said, grabbing her wine glass before she accidentally spilled it all down her front in her absent gesture.

He almost didn't realize what he had said until Mai's eyes wandered over to him, her perfectly painted lips in a slight O.

"Apricot-chan?"

Yugi flushed a deep, deep red.

"Oh, I, uh, it just –"

"That is the cutest thing I have ever _heard_!" Mai said, grinning widely. "Jou, listen to this, Yugi calls Anzu Apricot-chan! Isn't that adorable?"

"Whaaat? Yugi, you've given Anzu a pet name?" Jonouchi said. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"

Suddenly the entire group was staring at him with huge grins and Yugi felt the heat running all across his cheeks and down into his neck and he could not get his tongue to work.

"I...well, you see..."

Anzu's hand slipped into his, cool and firm. She smiled.

"Oh, we've been meaning to tell you," she said. "Yugi and I...well..."

She lifted up her free hand and wiggled her fingers, letting the light catch across the ring she wore.

Instantly, the group erupted.

"About stinking time, Yug!"

"Congratulations, Anzu-chan!"

"I'm so happy for you two!"

"Wow, when's the wedding?"

"I was wondering how long it was going to take!"

"_Nice job_, Anzu!"

Yugi's blush receded mostly, but he still rubbed the back of his neck and only mumbled in responses to all the well-wishing and slaps on the back. He glanced sidelong at Anzu.

"That wasn't exactly how I wanted to tell everyone," he said.

"I took initiative," Anzu said, laughing.

She leaned in and kissed him. He closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, not even caring about appearances anymore because all he wanted was to press into her and taste her chapstick and smell her fruity hair.

He heard Jonouchi and Honda letting out long "ooooooooo's" and the sound of someone – probably Mai – smacking them upside the heads.

He didn't care. It was a good night.

**. . .**

**A/N: well, that's a pretty good start to this series of random oneshots, don't you think? :3 Just to be clear, Yugi's nickname is in the middle of these things because he's using the word in English. Anzu's name is spelled with the kanji for apricot, so he started calling her Apricot, using the English word. :) I think the next oneshot will be Trustshipping, so yeah. Hope you liked it!**


	3. Instructions Not Included

_((Prompt: Imagine your OTP trying to build a playset (swings, slide, house, etc) for their child(ren). Imagine it going horribly wrong.))_

_((Ship: Nellshipping))_

_((Timeframe: about 20-21 years post DM))_

_((Note: this hasn't been addressed in any of my main timeline stories yet, but Noa was found in a cryogenic chamber beneath Kaiba Dome less than half a year after Battle City, and was able to be revived. Later, he met a girl that turned out to be the reincarnation of Amane, now a Greek girl called Arcadia, so that's why I'm calling Amane Arcadia in this oneshot))_

****. . .****

"This is supposed to snap here," Noa said.

"No, no, no, picture has the blue part on this side."

"No, Arcadia, the colors on the box are wrong, see, that part is the one that has the circle hole in the picture, and our pieces have the circle hole wall in yellow."

Arcadia threw her hands up in the air.

"Augh! I give _up_!"

Thick pieces of plastic squares with various shaped holes big enough for a small child to crawl through were scattered across the apartment's living room. Noa was staring at the box labeled "Mini Playset for Ages 2 and up", holding a small orange slide in one hand and trying to figure out exactly how that was supposed to attach to the frame.

"This is ridiculous," Arcadia said, falling onto her back. "Uuuugh!"

"Calm down, Arcadia," Noa said, trying to smother his grin. "It's not that hard. See, I think this snaps on like this..."

He reached for one of the play house walls and tried to fit it together with another one.

"Oops, no...geez, how is this so hard...?"

"I don't know, you're supposed to be the genius around here," Arcadia said, throwing a handful of packing peanuts at him from the box the playset had been shipped in.

He batted them away with a laugh.

"That's hardly fair. You're supposed to be the genius duelist," he said.

"Yeah, but you put together computers for a living, with all their tiny parts and wires and things," Arcadia said. "This is like that, just with bigger pieces! How is that hard for you, may I ask?"

"Oh, shut it," he said, throwing the packing peanuts back at her. "I'll figure it out, just you wait and see!"

"Good, so I don't have to work on it anymore?"

"I didn't say that..."

A loud whining cry went up from the room over. Arcadia leapt up before Noa could move.

"Oh, baby's awake! Guess you're on your own!" she said.

Noa laughed and threw another packing peanut at her as she trotted off to take care of Ami. Then he shook his head.

"Okay, this goes here then...?"

****. . .****

**A/N: A little birthday present for Noa Kaiba, since October 7 is his birthday. :3 I said it would be Trustshipping next, but I guess I lied XD. I don't know what I'll write next for this series. Hm.**


	4. Dreams of Water and Fire

_((Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OTP not being able to get to sleep after a long day at work and Person B cuddling with them to help.))_

_((Pair: Courageshipping. Austin O'Brien/Axel Brodie x Maiden of Aqua))_

_((Timeframe: about a month after the conclusion of GX season 3))_

Sleep was impossible. He had always had trouble with it, but it was worse in the past few weeks. The darkness was too thick, too heavy. It crushed down on him like weights across his chest.

O'Brien's eyes flew open with a start. He had sort of been asleep, but the images that flared across the backs of his eyelids had startled him away. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He shook his head. No sleep tonight, either, then.

He swung himself out of bed and headed for the computer. He should finish his research on that image Judai had sent him of the feather. It had something to do with one of the missing students from the old honor dorm, and O'Brien was certain he was on the verge of epiphany.

But his mind wandered. He was too exhausted. He had spent the morning in classes, and the afternoon working with Mr. Pegasus scouting out card thieves, like usual. Apparently there was a copycat of the old Ghouls organization trying to pop back up and it was all O'Brien could do to locate even one of the members. The last time he had actually slept was during his history lecture this morning. Hardly prime sleeping hours.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes. The day's events, his research, his homework, all of it seemed to float across his eyelids in a jumbled mess. His Duel Disk lay across the desk beside him. He reached out and lifted it. The familiar heft was comforting. He might be damn good at his job, but it was Dueling that he loved best.

Images from the other dimension flashed across his eyes in a blur – Judai's cold eyes glowing golden down at him, Jim vanishing in a explosion of sparkles, the heat of the Eye of Orichalcum in his palm as he felt his own body dissipating –

His Duel Disk dropped to the floor with a loud clatter. He flinched – even though he knew what the sound was, his mind instantly jumped to the number of weapons that could make a similar sound. It wasn't just the other dimension that was getting to him. It was his entire damn life.

He slumped forward. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't focus on work, he couldn't even pick up his Duel Disk without having a panic attack. What was he going to do with himself?

His cards were scattered across the floor. They must have fallen out of the Duel Disk when he dropped it. He sighed, and got off the chair to pick them up. He glanced down at each card as he put it back into its stack. Their fiery backgrounds glowed up at him, glinting holographically in the light of his computer screen. He smiled slightly. These cards had stuck with him through all of this. He felt a distinct sense of strength emanating from them. At the very least, the cards were something he could hang on to, something he could trust.

He reached for the last card, flipping it over to place it back into the pile. He hesitated halfway in the motion. This wasn't his card. When had he gotten this...? It didn't fit his deck at all.

_Maiden of Aqua,_ it read. _The field is treated as "Umi" as long as this card remains face up on the field._

Not only did it not fit into his deck at all, it was like a polar opposite of it. To have the field treated as Umi, an ocean, along with his fire deck? Not exactly a match made in heaven. Where had he even gotten this?

He stood up and turned the card towards the light. He sucked in a breath as the artwork became apparent.

Oh.

It was her.

A slender young woman, her powder blue hair drawn back in a bun from her light-skinned, smiling face. She held a trident in both hands, and white ribbons cascaded around her shoulders like hints of sea foam. He sat down slowly in his chair, staring at the card.

"_I was told that you might be the one who can defeat the Supreme King."_

"_Please, can you help us?"_

"_Don't worry, I can help! I call on the power of the sea, aid us!"_

"_I know you can defeat the Supreme King. If anyone can do it, it's you. Because you are strong, and braver than you think, and I believe in your courage."_

He snorted softly.

"Courage..." he said. "It really wasn't...courage...that got me on my feet again..."

He set the card down on the desk. His eyes didn't come off of it.

Come to think of it...

He had never seen her again after fighting and destroying the Supreme King in Judai. For all she knew...he had died. He had died in a kamikaze mission to take out the Supreme King. He...he wasn't even sure he had even gotten her name. Had he thanked her, for believing in him? For encouraging him to get back on his feet again?

For bringing back his courage?

"Maiden of Aqua," he muttered. "...thank you."

He stared at the card for another long moment. Then he sighed. He got up and got back into bed. There was nothing else he could do. He had to try and sleep.

As he closed his eyes, he thought he saw the card glitter.

A quiet footstep caught his attention, the creaking of the bed as something sat down on it. He didn't flinch, or jump into attack mode as he normally would. There was a calm presence in the room that soothed him.

A soft, gentle hand touched his arm – was he dreaming, maybe? Perhaps that was why he wasn't moving, wasn't afraid.

"O'Brien-san," her voice echoed to him through the darkness. "I finally found you..."

He felt some small and wet drop onto his shoulder. He still didn't move – it must be a dream. Otherwise he wanted to open his eyes, to sit up and see if she was there.

"I was so afraid," she whispered. "I heard – I heard that you had died with the King, and...and I never even got to tell you...thank you..."

The soft paralysis seemed to fade, and O'Brien opened his eyes. Dream or not, everything was in perfect clarity. He stirred. Her hand jumped off his shoulder in surprise as he sat up.

There she was, sitting on the foot of his bed, her deep blue eyes almost black in the darkness, her face glowing in the light of his computer screen.

"Oh, I...I thought you were asleep..."

"I thought I was too," he said.

They looked down. For a moment, neither spoke.

"O'Brien-san..." she whispered.

"I...I don't think I ever learned your name," he said.

They both looked up, eyes meeting each other. She smiled hesitantly.

"I'm called the Maiden of Aqua, but my name...it's Manami."

"Manami," O'Brien said. "I...I never got a chance. To thank you. I never would have – I wouldn't have found the strength to fight him if you hadn't...believed..."

"I was losing hope in everything before I met you," Manami said. "I thought there would be no end to the darkness. No one was strong enough to stand up to him. But you...you were scared, you knew what he was capable of, and yet you couldn't seem to leave. You couldn't seem to put down your weapon and give up. You fought, when I was in trouble, you came and fought with me, and I knew – I knew you were the hero I was looking for."

"I'm not a hero," O'Brien said. "I've never been one. I'm just...the guy who does other people's jobs."

She reached out tentatively, and then withdrew her hand. She bit her lip. And then she reached out again and put her hand on top of his.

"There was no one else that told you what to do," she said. "You say you just do other people's jobs when they ask – but there was no one to tell you that you had to fight the King. And you came to the conclusion yourself. You went...and you fought...because you decided to, even though you were afraid."

She smiled, her eyes a little bit shiny with tears.

"O'Brien-san, if that's not a hero, what is?"

Her hand was so, so soft. He turned his own hand over so that his fingers could twine around hers.

"Manami," he said.

"O'Brien," she whispered.

They stared at each other for a long moment. He felt everything in him starting to relax, to untwist and smooth out.

"How long are you able to stay in this world?" he asked softly.

She smiled.

"As long as you have my card," she said.

He reached out to her hesitantly. Her free hand came up to take his and press it against her cheek.

"And as long as you want me to stay."


	5. You Ridiculous Bastard

_((Prompt: Person A is sick, so Person B tries to cheer them up by doing things they wouldn't be caught doing in front of other people, such as speaking like a pirate and dancing a funny dance._ _.))_

_((Pair: Midriffshipping))_

_((Timeframe: about a year after the series end))_

**. . .**

Amelda could not remember the last time he had been so damn sick. His head felt like it was going to explode and he couldn't remember a time when he had actually been able to breathe through his nose. He lay on his bed with his face in the pillow and three blankets piled on top of him. He felt like he was going to die from burning up but the last time he had taken off even a single blanket it was like entering the Arctic.

The door creaked open, but he didn't look up.

"Hey, Amelda. Raphael told me to bring you some soup," Valon said, his voice sounding muffled through Amelda's blankets.

"Mmmmfff."

"You gotta eat, ya know. Otherwise you're just gonna get worse."

"Screw off, Valon."

"Well, _someone's_ a right porcupine today. Fine then, you overgrown baby, I'll just take this soup away and you can waste away to death. Sound like fun?"

Amelda shifted enough in bed to get his hand out from under the covers so that he could brandish a middle finger in Valon's direction.

"Same to you, big baby," Valon said. "Geez, it's like you'd never been sick before..."

The muffled sound of his vanishing footsteps was like music to Amelda's ears. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with that buffoon. Raphael was one thing, but Valon was a whole other story. He burrowed further into his blankets. Maybe he would wake up and this horrible spell of sickness would just be a dream.

There was a very soft tap on the door. Amelda swore quietly.

"I didn't mean to wake you," Raphael's soft, deep voice said. "But a friend of yours is here. He heard you were sick."

Friend? What friend?

"Yo, Amelda. I heard you were trying to suffocate the sickness out of yourself."

That voice...Marik?

Amelda sneaked a peek out over the covers. Sure enough, there was Marik, that half-grin of his plastered on his deep bronzed face, platinum blond hair falling over his shoulders and sticking up a little towards the top – he must have been wearing his helmet. He was definitely still in his motorcycle jacket and it looked as grease-stained as ever.

"Ugh," Amelda said. "What are you doing here?"

Marik grinned. Raphael tried to suppress it, but he had a small smile too. He bowed out quietly and left the two alone.

"I'm here to cheer you up, obviously. Here."

Marik walked into the room and placed a fruit basket on Amelda's nightstand.

"What's that for?"

"Apparently, friends do this in Japan when they visit their sick friends. It's supposed to help you feel better."

"All the damn fruit in the world isn't going to erase this for a while."

"Well not instantly, of course!" Marik said, laughing. "But come on, oranges, at least. High in vitamin C – it can at least reduce the time you have to spend feeling sick."

"I don't think I can keep anything down," Amelda said, grimacing.

"No worries, that's not what I really brought it for. Watch _this_."

He flipped two oranges and an apple from the basket and flicked them into the air.

"Are you...juggling?"

"Yeah! I've been practicing recently – not bad, huh?"

The three fruit rotated in the air as Marik's hands moved dextrously back and forth. It was actually a bit mesmerizing, the blur of orange and red in the air.

But it only last for about twenty seconds before Marik lost the rhythm and the apple conked him on the head. Marik swore with pain. The oranges fell to the ground too and he rubbed his head furiously.

Amelda let out a soft snort, unable to restrain the laughter.

Marik's eyes glinted instantly.

"Ah-ha," he said.

"What?" Amelda said.

Marik grinned.

"You laughed. I got you to laugh. You forgot you were sick for a minute, didn't you?"

"I did not. I'm going to forget until I can breathe through my nose."

"Don't deny it! That was a laugh!"

"It was just me sniffling," Amelda said defiantly.

"Hmph," Marik said. "Well, if you're so determined to stay miserable, then fine, then."

He bent down to pick up the fallen fruit and turned away to put them back into the basket. Amelda felt a little disappointed. He actually didn't want Marik to leave yet. Dammit, why had he been so annoying? Just because he was sick didn't give him the right to act like a prissy kid to Marik, who was only trying to help.

"Wait, Marik, I –"

"Yes?"

Amelda stopped midsentence, his mouth hanging open, because Marik had just turned around to face him and he had stuffed the oranges under his shirt so it looked like he had very strange looking breasts.

A brief moment of stunned silence hung across the room.

And then Amelda snorted. He clapped his hand over his mouth but he could stop the laughter from leaking out.

"Oh my – what the actual _hell_, Marik?" he said in between wrenching, rocking laughs. "You – _ridiculous bastard_ –"

It actually kind of hurt, rattling his head and making it a little harder to breathe, but he couldn't help it. The laughs kept rolling out of him, and Marik was laughing too, so loud and raucous that it was a wonder the other two men in the house didn't come by to see what was going on. Every time the laughter started to die a bit, Marik wiggled the oranges under his shirt and they were off on another round of rolling laughter.

Finally, it was just too hard to breathe, and both of them had to stop. They still giggled a bit like children in between their wheezing breaths.

"You...are...ridiculous," Amelda said.

"Buuuut, I made you laugh," Marik said, grinning. "I win, basically."

"Oh, was this a game or something?"

"Yup."

Amelda chuckled a bit more, shaking his head.

"Fine. Fine, okay, you win."

"Good!" Marik said. "Now get your ass out of bed and eat some of this soup that Raphael made for you. It's really good."

"Have you been eating some of it?"

"Maybe just a little bit."

"Thief."

"Oy, oy, calm it down with the insults there, buddy. Unless you want to back up your accusations with a round of Street Fighter."

"Fine, you're on."

"After you eat your soup."

"You meant the one that you've been eating from?"

"Oh come on, it's not like you haven't shared my germs in more _direct_ ways before..."

"Oh, shut it and give me the bowl of soup."

**. . .**

**A/N: This is the first time I've ever written Midriffshipping. I'm quite pleased with it; they have a much better dynamic than I had expected. :3**


	6. Keychain Games

_(Prom__pt: Person A using Love Tester or any similar program where you type in your name and your crush's and get a percentage rating for how well you fit together. Person A getting depressed when their name and B's end up with a low percentage. Person B somehow finding out and telling A not to believe in that bullshit, since they as people fit together so well, despite their names.)_

_(Ship: Trust)_

_(Time: about eight years post series)_

* * *

"Good morning, Seto."

Seto grunted in response. Then he blinked, and looked up from his computer.

"Ishizu? What are you doing here?"

Ishizu laughed, her black hair swishing with the motion of her shoulders.

"Have you forgotten? I said I was coming to visit after I got the exhibit settled in at Domino."

"But that wasn't until Saturday..."

"It is Saturday, Seto."

Seto looked over at his clock, which had the date beneath the time. It _was_ Saturday. Damn. It had felt like Thursday for some reason. Had he been up all night? Probably.

He groaned and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed at his temples.

"Late night?" Ishizu said, a teasing tone to her voice. "I can come back later."

"No, I'm used to it."

He shook his head to clear it. He was going to need coffee.

"You been in Domino long?" he asked.

He stood up and walked over to the coffee machine he had plugged into the corner of the room. He pointed questioningly to it as he caught Ishizu's eye, and she nodded, so he pulled a second mug out from under the table and started it up.

"Just two days. The exhibit turned out to be more work than I thought, and Yugi asked if I would stop by his class before he took them over to the museum, to talk a little about archeology."

Seto snorted.

"I told you to watch out for that. Yugi loves to steal archeology experts on short notice to show off to his students."

"Oh, they were good kids. I don't mind," she laughed. "I like talking about my work. Don't you?"

"I basically live and breathe it, I don't need to talk about it more than necessary."

Dark, perfect coffee cascaded into the first mug. He handed it off to Ishizu, who accepted it with a slight bow of her head. He filled his own mug and wrapped his hands around it. Damn, but it was cold today. Maybe he should turn the heat up – he hated wasting energy, but if the weather kept up like this, it was looking to be a white Christmas.

"Oh, what's this?" Ishizu said, eyes wandering to the desk.

The woman pointed at a small, heart-shaped object on the desk. Seto glanced up from the mug he had been stirring to see what she was looking at, and groaned mentally. Dammit. Anzu or Yugi must have forgotten it here last night. How long had _that_ been sitting there?

"Dammit. Yugi must have forgotten it," Seto said, rolling his eyes. "It's called a Lovely Two. Stupid portable love tester that used to be popular when we were in high school."

"Oh," Ishizu said, eyes lighting up with recognition. "I found one of these left behind in the back of the museum after I took Yugi's class around; I was meaning to ask him if it belonged to a student. I guess they're still popular, then!"

Seto had to roll his eyes again. Teenagers. He hadn't understood them, even when he was one.

"Yugi's the most hopeless romantic – apparently Anzu gave that thing to him when we were in high school. He still has it, wears it everywhere now that he and Anzu are engaged."

Ishizu laughed lightly, turning it over in her hands.

"That's adorable," she said. "Does Anzu carry hers, too?"

"Yes. Those two are ridiculous."

"They're in love, Seto. People get ridiculous when they're in love."

Seto snorted.

"How does it work?" Ishizu asked.

"Not sure. Didn't bother checking it."

Ishizu laughed quietly and turned it over in her hands a few times, before poking at the buttons. It made a few soft beeping sounds. Seto watched her over the rim of his mug. Her deep blue eyes sparkled with a sort of...amusement from the little object, her softly bronzed hands looking incredibly graceful with the little movements they made across the buttons.

She glanced up at Seto with something of a mischievous grin.

"Seto, what's your blood type?"

"What?" he said, surprised. For a moment he hadn't heard her question, so busy he had been staring at her fingers. "It's A...wait. You're not..."

But Ishizu was already tapping the buttons again with a growing smile. She dug in her pocket for a moment and pulled out the other Lovely Two she said she had found. Humming softly to herself, she started tapping into it.

"You're not serious," Seto said, half smiling in spite of himself.

"Why, Seto, it almost seems as though you're afraid it will work," Ishizu said with a light laugh.

"Those things are fake, anyway," Seto said.

He sipped at his coffee, but didn't say anything else to stop Ishizu from her work.

"There," she said, placing both Lovely Twos on the desk. "And then..."

"I think you have to push the button," Seto said.

He was actually smiling about this; it was rather silly. Love tests were nonsense. Besides, it wasn't as though Ishizu thought that way about him. They were business acquaintances at most.

Right?

Ishizu pushed the buttons. Nothing happened. For a moment, Seto almost thought he saw Ishizu frown. And in spite of himself, he had sort of felt a small twinge of disappointment.

The Ishizu smiled, shaking her head.

"Looks like we're not meant to be, Seto," she teased, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Ah, well. I should probably put Yugi's information back in here before I give it back to him. Do you happen to know what his birthday is?"

"No. I hear someone leaked most of that kind of information onto , though, you should check there."

"Oh, no, poor Yugi," Ishizu said, grimacing.

Her fingers tapped at the buttons again. He found himself staring at the movements once more, somewhat mesmerized by the grace of her motions.

"You know those things are a load of bull, anyway?" he said, taking another sip of coffee. "They don't mean a damn thing about whether two people fit together. It's just like those dumb horoscope compatibility things."

Ishizu glanced up at him, a bit of surprise in her eyes.

"And you've made it a point to clarify this because...?"

He couldn't tell if she was teasing him again or not. He shrugged and stared at his coffee, wondering if he had made it too hot, because his cheeks felt warm all of a sudden.

"Nothing. You just seemed disappointed, for some reason."

"I seemed...?"

He didn't look at her, but he was certain she was still looking at him. When she spoke again, he could hear the smile in her voice.

"No," she said, finally. "I don't think I'm disappointed in this little experiment at all."

And she started to hum a little song to herself again under her breath.

Seto half smiled to himself and closed his eyes. The tune was rather pleasant, actually.

* * *

**A/N: Ta-da! Aww, Ishizu guessed that Seto might like her a bit from his words. ^/^ They're so cute. Seto is hard to write in fluffy scenes, but I hoped I pulled it off. Idk what I'll write next. I've been kind of obsessed with Sharkbaitshipping ever since watching Zexal, so maybe I'll write that.**


	7. I Don't Mind the Rain

_((Prompt: __Imagine your OTP enjoying a night of stargazing. Things are going well, and romantic, they start to kiss/make out and a storm hits. But instead of seeking shelter from the rain they make love under the night sky not caring if they're drenched. They're just caught up in the moment of passion itself, the heated air of summer only provides a good reason to enjoy it. ))_

_((Pairing: Sharkbaitshipping, Yuma Tsukumo x Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro))_

_((Timeframe: a few years post-series, Shark and Yuma are just starting high school now))_

. . .

"And that one's a seahorse."

"You're just making these up now."

"No, I swear, Astral told me that one's supposed to be a seahorse."

It was really hard to tell if Yuma was joking or not, because he had a silly grin on his face either way. The cheerful boy had somehow ended up with his head in Ryoga's lap, leaning back against him with his arms sprawled across the grass. Yuma was definitely the more cuddly of the two of them...not that Ryoga was really complaining right now.

He stared up at the sky where Yuma was pointing, a clump of stars barely visible between the thickening columns of clouds.

"I'm not seeing it," he said. "They're just a clump of stars."

"Nope, it's definitely a legit constellation. The seahorse constellation."

"Stop making things up," Ryoga said, grinning as he pushed Yuma's head gently.

Yuma laughed and sat up to escape the light attack. Ryoga was a little bit disappointed, because Yuma was warm and the night was getting colder, but he didn't say anything. He didn't have to be disappointed for long, anyway, because Yuma just flopped immediately against his shoulder so that his head was leaning against him. Ryoga let out a soft sigh of contentment as he silently leaned his head on top of Yuma's, feeling a little bit guilty about it, but not being able to deny his desire for human contact.

They sat silently for a moment. Just staring up at the stars.

"It's...quiet," Yuma said.

"Yeah."

"Kinda like it."

"Mmhm."

The breeze wafted gently past them, rustling the faraway trees and making the swings in the distant playground squeak quietly.

"Hey...Shark?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Ryoga blinked. He shifted a bit, trying to see the boy leaning against him.

"For...what?"

"For being my friend...and for coming back after...you know, all the crazy stuff that happened...you could have hated me and Astral for everything, but you didn't...and you remember all your Barian life and everything so you're technically a whole lot older than I am, and there wasn't a reason for you to come to school with everyone again, but you did anyway, and..."

"Yuma," Ryoga said. "It's okay."

The boy had actually started to tear up a little. He sat up quickly, rubbing at his eyes with the backs of his hands.

"Haha, allergies are hitting me all of a sudden," he said. "I guess it's really spring."

Ryoga hesitated. Yuma wasn't look at him, his eyes in shadow, staring out towards the other side of the park.

All of a sudden, Ryoga really, really wanted to feel him leaning up against him again. He wanted it more than anything he had ever wanted anything before—he could feel it like a tremble in his hands. But he did not reach out. Part of him didn't think he deserved to get what he wanted.

"You don't have to thank me," Ryoga said, finally. "I didn't do anything worthy of thanks."

He had hurt Yuma, he thought with a pang in his heart. He had betrayed him, left him as soon as he had remembered his past, had not even for a moment thought of how he could use their friendship to reach some kind of compromise to avoid the war that had brewed between the dimensions. He had opted instead to become Yuma's enemy, to leave him behind when he probably had needed him the most, with the betrayal of Vector still so fresh in his mind and just barely coming out of his depression from losing Astral. No, he had done nothing worthy of thanks. He had hurt Yuma in a way that could never be forgiven. He supposed...that was why he wanted to stay close to the boy, to protect him this time. So that he would never see that broken look on his friend's face again, so that he would never leave him or hurt him again.

But he didn't deserve to be so close to him.

"S-Shark," Yuma said suddenly. "Really. I'm—I'm so glad that you came back. And I—I don't really know how to say this but...whenever I'm around you I feel so weird—not in a bad way, not in a bad way! But like, I just want to...to be close to you and...and I was so scared that you wouldn't come back, or that when you did you would decide to leave and travel like Vector did, but you came and you stayed and I...I feel kind of selfish and..."

"Yuma," Ryoga said. The name rolled of his tongue, tasting sweet and fresh and beautiful all at once. He felt that trembling starting in his shoulders again, that desire to reach out and slip his hand onto Yuma's shoulders and then into the other boy's hand.

He didn't deserve this.

But Yuma was staring at him now, his eyes shining, confused, still kind of half sputtering, trying to find the words. He had no idea, did he? He was so innocent, so naïve...he had no idea how to put words to the feeling—or was Ryoga just being too hopeful, projecting too many of his own feelings onto Yuma, and was misinterpreting everything?

"Shark," Yuma said. "I...I don't know how...why is my heart making weird jumps when I look at you?"

Ryoga swallowed. He wanted this. He wanted to hear this so badly, but—but did he deserve it?

"Yuma," he whispered. "I...I'm the...same...I..."

He swallowed. His tongue ran over his lips.

"Yuma...can I...kiss you?"

Yuma blinked. His eyes widened for a moment, lips parting slightly. Ryoga punched himself mentally. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He had messed up. He had messed—

"Yeah," Yuma said suddenly, his voice barely more than a breath. "Yeah...yeah you can."

Both of them hesitated. The breeze wafted between them again, rustling their hair. Soft thunder rumbled in the sky above. Slowly, slowly, Ryoga leaned forward. His hand came up to take Yuma's chin gently, tilting him softly up towards him. Yuma didn't resist, didn't say a word as the two of them drew closer. His eyes slowly fluttered closed as Ryoga reached him, and Ryoga's own eyes closed as his lips brushed against Yuma's.

Gently, tentatively at first, just lips bumping together, two awkward boys uncertain of what they were doing—neither who had ever kissed before—and then a bit harder, pressing into each other, lips parting to allow the other one access to each other. Ryoga's hands slid over Yuma's shoulders, and Yuma's came up onto Ryoga's chest, and they were pressing together, each other's taste imprinting itself on each other's tongues.

The sky opened up.

Rain poured from the sky, a sheet of water just dropping from the heavens on top of them. But they barely noticed, they were so wrapped up in each other, in this moment that both of them had wanted but neither had known how to ask for. It was only when the water began to stream down their faces that they had to break apart before they drowned, Yuma pulling away with a laugh and a shake of his soaked hair.

"Oh my gosh!" he laughed, his arms still wrapped around Ryoga. "Your hair looks ridiculous!"

"You look worse," Ryoga teased, having to shout over the rain. "Let's get to that gazebo!"

Yuma nodded, and they scrambled to their feet to make a break for it.

Neither of them realized they were holding hands until they reached shelter. And neither of them broke away even when they did realize.


	8. I'm Not Worth You

Starkness. That was why he hated hospitals. The blinding white and sickening clean starch smell that seeped into your bones until you felt sanitized into something so clean that it was inhuman. The quiet in the hallways that was only broken by the click of heels and the rumble of wheels. The quiet scribbling of pencils on clipboards as silent professionals took notes. The loneliness, the feeling of everything personal being stripped away so that you were just alone in a place that had no real human touches to it. He had spent too many horrible hours in places like these, but after Rio had finally been discharged and the Astral-Barian War was over he had hoped that he could avoid these places forever.

He had been wrong in the worst way possible.

The soft beeping of the heart monitor was Ryoga's only company. The others had left some hours ago, and Astral had faded back into the dimension within the Emperor's Key, but Ryoga couldn't move from his chair. Couldn't move his eyes from the boy that lay quietly on the hospital bed.

He could have just been sleeping peacefully, if Ryoga didn't know better. No casts, no blood, no bandages. Just...laying there. Breathing steadily. Ryoga's hands tightened in his lap.

"Why?" he whispered. "Why did you do it?"

Yuma, of course, did not answer.

"I could've...taken it. I may not be a Barian anymore, but...I could've...I could've survived that fall. Why...why did you push me back...?"

His fault. It was Ryoga's fault. He had come so close to losing that last match against just the first wave of their newest enemy. So close to falling into the abyss. But Ryoga's powers remained, even if his Barian form did not. Yuma knew that. He must have known that. Ryoga would have healed quickly. He probably would have survived.

Would Yuma?

Ryoga drew in a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. He didn't want to think about it but the images flashed across his eyelids anyway: Yuma, grabbing his wrist, Yuma, yanking him back, Yuma, losing his balance by offsetting Ryoga's weight, Yuma, smiling even as he lost his footing and dropped down down down down—because, Ryoga knew, in Yuma's mind, the only thing that had mattered in that moment was that Ryoga himself was stumbling safely to solid ground.

"Damn you," he whispered. "Damn you and your damn selfless, sacrificing heart."

He looked so peaceful. He had hit his head so hard.

He had to wake up. He just—had to.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ryoga reached out a tentative hand. He brushed a few strands of hair from Yuma's face.

"Wake up, dammit," he whispered, his throat choked all of a sudden. "You have to wake up. You can't...you can't die for me."

It just wasn't an option. It was not an option for Yuma to sacrifice himself for Ryoga—not the Ryoga that had done so many horrible things to him. Hell, their first meeting, Ryoga had broken Yuma's precious pendant and enjoyed doing it, and then threatened to tear his precious deck in half. Later, he had tried to kill Yuma. He had thrown away all of the bonds they had made in an instant when his memories of being Nasch returned. Not for a moment had he considered how he could use the bonds he had made to find a better future. He had never thought about the possibility of working together with Astral and Yuma to save all the worlds—why hadn't he? Because he was an idiot, that was why. He had simply reverted back to this old ways without a second thought.

Yuma, though...

"Wake up," he said again, desperately this time. He reached out and grabbed Yuma's hand where it rested above the covers, squeezing more than was perhaps necessary. "Goddamn you, wake up. You can't die for me. I'm not worth you."

He couldn't stop the tear from rolling down his cheek and squeezed his eyes shut against the rest of the flood that threatened to spill.

"I'm not worth you," he whispered. "Please. Wake up."

It might have been his imagination...

But he thought he felt Yuma's hand shift slightly in his...and when he opened his eyes at the small feeling, he could have sworn he saw a tiny, sleepy smile appear on Yuma's face for a moment.

And then, as though the boy had spoken aloud, Ryoga could almost hear his inevitable response echo in his mind:

"_Of course you're worth it, Shark."_


	9. The Fifth Night

_((Prompt: Person B talks Person A of your OTP into getting a job, and A happens to get a job as a nighttime security guard at a local pizzeria. Every morning when A comes home from work, they tell Person B that the animatronics in the pizzeria are out to get them, and every morning that they come home, the stories of their shift seem to get freakier. Person B believes that Person A is simply trying to get out of going to work. One morning, after about a week of working there, Person A doesn't come home.))_

_((Pair: Angelshipping; Shou Marufuji x Jun Manjoume))_

_((Timeframe: AU, but would be equivalent to about two years post-series))_

**. . .**

"What are you doing?"

"Getting ready to go."

"What? Go where? It's almost seven..."

Manjoume blinked in the middle of buttoning his jacket.

"Oh. Right. Forgot to tell you. I got a job."

Shou almost dropped his glass of water.

"You _what?_ I mean, you did?"

_About time,_ Shou thought. They had been sharing this apartment for almost five months now, and Manjoume still hadn't landed a sponsor for dueling. Shou had been bringing in most of the rent with his Dueling League.

It was a good sign; Manjoume had been moping around for a while since he still hadn't been able to get a sponsor. Shou couldn't understand why, because Manjoume was a damn good duelist and had Ed's endorsement to boot, but he knew if they were going to afford this apartment Manjoume was going to have to get some kind of temporary job.

"Don't sound so surprised," Manjoume said testily. He stabbed his hands into his gloves.

"Sorry," Shou said. "I just didn't even know you were looking. Where at? And why so late?"

"It's that old pizzeria downtown. They need a night guard, apparently."

"An all night shift? That sucks."

"Meh. Pays well...it's only for a few weeks, apparently. They're shutting down soon. Don't know why the hell they need a night guard, then, but whatever. Take what I can get."

He paused, then, standing in front of the door hesitantly. He sent Shou a quick glance over his shoulder.

"Well," he said, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck. Don't fall asleep on the job," Shou said, teasing.

"You wish. See you in the morning."

And he pushed out through the door and into the cold darkening night.

**. . .**

**"****I'm telling you, the place is fucking creepy," Manjoume complained Shou slid breakfast in front of him.**

**He looked terrible. An all night shift had to be terrible for him; he was used to his sleep. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked ragged, his hair a mess. Shou rolled his eyes, though, as he slid into the seat across from him.**

**"****It's a night shift, what were you expecting?"**

**He picked up his chopsticks and popped a piece of fish into his mouth. Manjoume hadn't touched his food yet—that wasn't like him. He was frowning instead, looking uncomfortable, shifting in his chair and flinching slightly at the sound the chair made when he moved.**

**"****That's not it...it's the freaking animatronics. The previous guy just left me a ****_voice recording_****for my training; didn't even show up. He said they have to let the animatronics run at night to prevent something, but they had to be shut down during the day because one of them bit a kid or something."**

**"****The animatronic did?" Shou said incredulously. "Jun, did you fall asleep on the job and have a weird dream?"**

**"****I wish that had been a dream," Manjoume muttered, but he didn't say more. He just picked at his food, eating about half of it, before mumbling a thanks, and stumbling off down the hall to the bedroom to take a nap. **

**Shou frowned as he left. Something wasn't quite right. He hoped nothing bad happened...**

**. . .**

**Every morning, the stories seemed to get weirder.**

**"****That fox one, it just ****_bolts_****down the hall. It moves faster than it should be programmed to..."**

**"****They seem to like...try and look inside the room when they move past...I have this bad feeling about what would happen if they came in, and the voice recording is like...freaking creepy. Bet the old guy's just trying to psyche me out, but... Either way I slam the door on 'em."**

**"****They don't move the way that programming should make them. They move like they're ****_alive_****, like they're looking for me."**

**"****I could have sworn I saw one out of the corner of my eye just ****_appear_****in the office, just before the clock hit six...but it disappeared so I might have imagined it..."**

**"****You just don't want to go to work, do you?" Shou asked.**

**"****That's not ****_it_****!"**

**Manjoume snapped with just a little too much force, and then looked mortified.**

**"****Sorry, Shou, I'm just...tired. I think I need to sleep."**

**He shook his head and stumbled back down the hall. Shou bit his lip. Maybe he was judging Manjoume too harshly. He really ****_was_****trying, and all of this was seeming to wear on him. Maybe he should tell him to stay home tonight, maybe this was just too much for him. It had been almost a week, there surely wasn't a need for him to go back for the last night. Five nights in a row was pretty bad...**

**But Manjoume showed up at the door in the evening, looking haggard and slumped, pulling on his coat and reaching for his bag. Shou was waiting for him in the entrance, hugging himself.**

**"****Jun...maybe you should call in sick," he said.**

**"****Can't..." Manjoume mumbled. "Don't get paid unless I'm there all five nights. I've gotten this far, can't back out now."**

**Shou bit his lip.**

**"****I have a bad feeling," he said. "Jun, I know you're trying, and I'm really glad, but I don't think this is worth it..."**

**"****I've already been there four nights, if I don't get fucking paid for that I'm going to flip some tables," Manjoume said.**

**Then he hesitated. He sent Shou a small smile.**

**"****I'll be okay, Shou. Don't worry about me. Okay?"**

**He hesitated again at the door. Then he turned around and clumsily kissed Shou on the forehead, his hand lingering on top of Shou's. Shou tried to grab his hand, a flutter of unnatural terror rushing through him. But Manjoume was already moving away, the door already opening and then closing behind him, and he was gone.**

**Shou felt a coldness seeping into his chest. He was reminded vaguely of the time he had spent in the bowels of Darkness. It felt...a lot like that.**

**. . .**

**It was already seven thirty. Manjoume wasn't back. He had always been back by now.**

**Shou paced back and forth, eyes flickering to the window, waiting to see his boyfriend stumbling sleepily up the sidewalk. Shou hadn't slept a wink all night, the bed feeling colder and more empty than usual. As soon as Manjoume got back, Shou was going to give him a talking to—no more freaking night jobs, no matter how good they paid, no more jobs with scary animatronics, and no more leaving Shou alone in this cold, dark house in the night. Then they were going to go and take a nap together, and put this whole stupid business behind them.**

**Almost eight o'clock.**

**Shou grabbed his cell phone and dialed.**

**"****Pick up, pick up," he mumbled.**

**Nothing.**

**No. No, no, no.**

**He dialed the number of Freddy Fazbear's, the pizzeria. He got only a voicemail, stating that the place was closing down and there was no ordering options at this time.**

**Shou threw the phone into his pocket and exploded out the door, almost forgetting to lock the apartment behind him. He took the stairs two at a time, running at full tilt towards the old, broken down pizza place.**

**_Why would a place like that need a night guard? Why would they be willing to pay so much for someone to do it all five nights? What is going on? Oh, god, Jun..._**

**He reached the old building and pressed his face to the glass doors.**

**It was incredibly dark inside, looking ruined. Tables lay on their sides, there were broken dishes and plates, even the walls were crumbling. But this didn't look like run of the mill deterioration, it looked like something had been ****_fighting_****in here.**

**Shou tried the door, but it was locked. He started banging on it instead, as loud as he could.**

**"****Hey! Jun!" he shouted. "Hey! I know you're in there!"**

**Real terror was beating in his chest now. He peered further in. He almost thought he could see the shape of a bear standing in the back...a lot like the logo of the pizza place. Was that one of the animatronics? A shudder ran down his back. Nothing about this felt right.**

**But now a surge of fury rushed through him. So this was how they were going to do it? Well, he wasn't about to stand here and wait helplessly!**

**He drew back, strapping his Duel Disk to his wrist—at least he had remembered to grab that on the way out, and he took some modicum of relief in the knowledge that Manjoume's hadn't been anywhere to be seen, so he had taken his as well—and drew the top card. Perfect.**

**"****Rescueroid!" he shouted, slapping the card down.**

**The monster appeared in a ripple of energy. But this was no hologram—Shou's time in the other dimensions, and in fact, all of his friends' time there, had given them the ability to bring their monsters into the real world. None of them had the amount of force that Judai had, but it would be enough.**

**Shou sent his monster forward with a nudge of his mind, and the living ambulance crashed through the window. Shou hopped through the broken wall and picked his way around the wreckage. Now that he was inside, with light streaming through, he could see that there was indeed an animatronic bear standing in the corner.**

**And its head turned to look at him.**

**There was far too much intelligence sparking in its otherwise cold, dead eyes.**

**"****Rescueroid, get it!" Shou shouted.**

**He ducked and clapped his hands over his ears as the monster surged forward, sirens blaring. It crashed into the animatronic, sending it in a heap to the floor. Shou drew another card.**

**"****Bicycleroid, let's find Jun," he commanded.**

**The bike monster sparked to life and nodded at Shou with its big eyes beneath the handlebars. Shou hopped on and grabbed hold, and the monster took off of its own free will. They darted down the dark, dusty hall, Shou's eyes roving the place for the security office—**

**There!**

**Shou tapped the bicycle monster and pointed. It zipped over. Shou hopped off and ran in through the doors.**

**"****Jun! Jun!"**

**Empty. The room was empty.**

**The phone was hanging off its line, dangling above the floor. The cameras were still running, but they were faded, and it was obvious that the batteries were running out. A swivel chair lay broken on its side. There were definite claw marks ripped into the plush fabric, stuffing spilling out. Those were no ordinary claw marks—they looked like the dragon marks that Manjoume's Armed Dragons would make.**

**"****Jun!" Shou screamed. "Jun!"**

**Bicycleroid made a jingling noise at him with its bell. Shou rushed over to see what the little monster was pointing at and—**

**His heart went cold. Blood. It was a trail of drops of blood.**

**He scrambled back into the seat.**

**"****Follow it!" he said.**

**Bicycleroid didn't need prompting. It bolted down the hall, following the trail with a practiced ease and maneuverability.**

**It screeched to a stop as they reached the kitchen—Shou scrambled off and burst through the doors.**

**"****Jun—"**

**There he was. He was sprawled out on the floor, looking dizzy but ****_alive_****. Blood trickled from the under his hair, one of his arms looked bent in the wrong direction, but his chest was rising and falling. Armed Dragon Lv 3 practically sat on top of him, growling with its bulldog like face.**

**Three animatronics surrounded him. All three looked up when Shou appeared, their heads swiveling around almost 180 degrees. A fourth animatronic flickered into existence, a strange, half visible golden bear with hollows for eyes. It dragged a broken animatronic lizard behind it, trying to approach Manjoume, but given pause by a breath of fire from Armed Dragon.**

**One of the animatronics grabbed at Armed Dragon's wings, and the creature screeched, biting down on its head. But the distraction was enough for another animatronic to grab Manjoume by the legs, pulling him out from under Armed Dragon's protection, pulling him towards the animatronic suit—**

**Shou had no idea what they were planning on doing, but he wasn't planning on letting it happen.**

**"****Bicycleroid! Rescueroid!" he shouted.**

**With a blaring siren, Rescueroid crashed through the wall. Shou ducked as debris exploded around them. One rock hit the animatronic holding Manjoume, and it toppled over onto its side, limbs moving frantically. Shou ducked and weaved around the chaos as the siren continued to scream. He reached Manjoume and slid his arms under Manjoume's armpits, dragging him to a sitting position.**

**"****We have to go!" he said. "Manjoume, you have to get up!"**

**His boyfriend still looked dizzy, as though he barely knew what was going on.**

**"****S-Shou?" he said uncertainly.**

**"****Come on, we ****_have_****to ****_go!_****"**

**Manjoume shook his head vaguely, but tried to do as he was told. Shou slung one of his arms over his shoulder and tried to drag him along—but Manjoume was just too tall and heavy for the shorter boy. Shou stumbled under his weight, trying to head for the hole in the wall where Rescueroid had burst through—it was the quickest way out.**

**And then the golden bear flickered into life in front of them.**

**Shou actually screamed. The bear reached for Manjoume, still holding the other suit with the head open and broken, but the workings still crammed inside.**

**_They are going to shove him in there_****, Shou thought wildly, and somehow knew that was true.**

**"****You can't have him!" Shou shouted, shifting Manjoume behind him. "You can't have him!"**

**The bear didn't hesitate. It just started reaching for Shou instead. Shou tried to stumble back, but with Manjoume's weight, it was nearly impossible. The bear's big paw latched into Shou's hair, and he screamed as it dragged him forward.**

**"****Rescueroid! Rescueroid!"**

**But the monster was too busy, surrounded by the other animatronics and trying to blast at them over and over with its tires. Bicycleroid had fallen over and was being sat on by the fox animatronic. And Armed Dragon was still wrestling with the duck animatronic—Shou's hands were still wrapped around Mannjoume, he couldn't reach his Duel Disk for another monster, and even if he could, he wasn't sure he could hold more than two monsters on the field at once.**

**The bear yanked Shou forward, shoving his face towards the broken animatronic. Shou screamed, pulled away from Manjoume, smacking at the bear but it was ****_too strong_****.**

**"****A-Armed Dragon, Lv 5!"**

**A roar exploded over the kitchen. Instantly, the ceiling exploded as the giant dragon appear, its body too big for the low-ceiling room and breaking through the top. The bear released Shou as a piece of debris hit him on the head. Shou scrambled back, falling into Manjoume's arms.**

**His eyes were sharper now, although there was still a dizzy tremble in his shoulders.**

**"****You idiot," he said through gritted teeth. "Why did you come? You could have gotten hurt!"**

**"****And let you ****_die_****, you stubborn numbskull?**

**Shou whistled sharply for Rescueroid. The ambulance monster blared over to them, barrelling over the animatronics this time. It flipped open its doors on the back.**

**"****In, in!" Shou said.**

**Manjoume scrambled into the back of the ambulance, then pulled Shou in by his collar. The doors slammed shut behind them.**

**"****GO!"**

**The ambulance monster screeched another siren, and then crashed through the ceiling. Shou gripped at Manjoume as the wild ride bounced them around the back of the ambulance. Mentally, Shou released Bicycleroid, letting the monster fade back into its own dimension. Through the windows, he could see both Armed Dragons disappear too...and then the pizzeria was behind them, and gone.**

**Rescueroid pulled up with a screech in front of their apartment, and then settled into a stop.**

**The pair just lay there on the floor of the vehicle for a moment, breathing heavily.**

**"****T-thanks," Manjoume said.**

**"****You had better get paid a ****_shitton_****for that."**

**Manjoume let out a nervous giggle. And then Shou had to laugh too. It was stupid, and weird, but perhaps it was just the relief. They both just laughed, shaking so hard that they couldn't otherwise move, still with Shou sprawled over Manjoume, shaking each other with their laughs and making the other one laugh more.**

**It was only when they could barely breathe that they stopped, still giggling and wheezing, gasping for breath.**

**Impulsively, wildly, Shou shifted over and kissed Manjoume full on the lips. Manjoume kissed him back eagerly, his arms wrapping around the smaller boy.**

**When they broke apart, still heaving for breath, Shou slumped to Manjoume's side.**

**"****New plan," he said. "Don't worry about finding a job anymore."**

**Manjoume just giggled again.**

**The laughter restarted, Rescueroid waiting patiently for them to recover themselves.**

**The pizzeria could not be salvage from the flames Armed Dragon had started, even though the fire trucks had arrived quickly. The animatronics were found burnt and twisted, completely unfixable.**

**Manjoume never did get his paycheck.**


End file.
